Dear Readers! June is upon us. & There is so much to see! From Frida Kahlo opening at Tate Modern and Louise Janin at GPS Gallery, to young artists like Georgia-May Cook at Union Pacific, Paul Majek at House of Annetta, and Lara Shahnavaz at Ginny on Frederick.
We have just returned from my favourite Hay Festival where I spoke with the legendary (faithful) David Olusoga about my book, How To Live An Artful Life, and hosted kids events for The Story of Art without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists.
Scroll on for my British Museum Kids Book Club (!) and, as always, top reads, things to see, do, watch and listen to! Have a great month. Love Katy xxx
On Friday 10 July, I’ll be at Tate Modern discussing the powerful practices of Tracey Emin, Frida Kahlo and Ana Mendieta — at the rare moment that these three great women artists are all exhibiting at Tate. In-person tickets have sold out, but you can book a livestream ticket here!
When I was in NYC in April, I visited the studio of legendary painter Joan Snyder, whose new show Earthsongs opens tomorrow, 6 June, at Thaddeus Ropac Paris (until 25 Jul). We discussed the power of music (and our love of Philip Glass); her journey from sociology to art – and the conviction to get herself into graduate school; plus, how important it is to teach art to kids. Joan is awesome. Listen here.
“I mean, that was what compelled me to keep painting… I was pretty self-taught because I didn't have those beginning classes. I didn't have that structure. I didn't have any of that. So, in some ways, I think that served me well. Maybe not for all students, but it definitely served me well – not to have too much instruction.”
It’s London Gallery Weekend, and the city is full with exhibitions, talks, tours, performances, and more — all totally free to attend. Check out my top picks here.
Plus don’t miss Hauser & Wirth’s Literary Evening, tonight (Friday 5 June), 5:30pm – hosted by Ben Luke, with readings from myself and many more.
As the first UK solo exhibition dedicated to Louise Janin opens this week, I spoke to curators Simon Grant and Vivienne Roberts about this visionary artist, whose work melds East Asian influences with surrealism, spiritualism, and more. Check it out!
Ahead of the UK premiere of Dada Masilo’s Hamlet at Sadler’s Wells, longtime collaborator Suzette Le Sueur told me about Masilo’s radical reimagining of Hamlet through Ophelia’s eyes. Read here.
Click here for highlights from my conversation with art historian Briony Fer on artist, designer and avant-garde icon Sophie Taeuber-Arp.
I went to the British Museum to answer some kids’ questions, including: “Who would you want to paint a portrait of you?” and, “Why do we see more works by male artists than female artists in museums?” Along the way we looked at works by Mary Delaney, Clara Peeters, Tracey Emin and the Guerrilla Girls. Watch here!
And now for June’s recommendations!
Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon, Tate Modern, London (until 3 Jan 2027)
Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature, Newlands House Gallery, Petworth (until 6 Sept)
Eileen Agar, Alison Jacques, London (until 25 Jul)
Mrinalini Mukherjee: Unbound Forms - Women Sculptors of India and Bangladesh, Hepworth Wakefield (until 25 Oct)
Georgia-May Cook: Picnic Lightning, Union Pacific, London (until 18 Jul)
Jemila Isa: Dreams Lost Upon Waking, Maureen Paley, London (until 25 Jul)
Olivia Plender: Little Fennel’s Complaint, Modern Art Oxford (until 16 Aug)
Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica, Barbican, London (until 6 Sep)
Roni Horn: Seizure of Hope, Hauser & Wirth, London (until 1 Aug)
Andrew Cranston and Lorna Robertson: Painting, our mutual friend, Glasgow Print Studio (until 1 Aug)
Louise Janin: The Echo of the Spirit Through the Rhythms of Life at GPS Gallery, London (3–7 Jun) (read my q&a with the curators here!)
To the Dance: Eight works by Nancy Spero 1926–2009, Frith Street Gallery Golden Square, London (until 7 Aug)
Gladys Hynes: Radical Lives, Charleston in Lewes (until 11 Oct)
Nomenclature for the Time Being, Raven Row, London (until 6 Sep)
Lara Shahnavaz: Dust, Ginny on Frederick, London (until 12 Jun)
Phyllida Barlow: disruptor, Wolterton, Norwich (until 31 Oct)
Firelei Baez: feet squelching on wet grass, nourished by uncertainty, Hauser & Wirth, New York (until 31 Jul)
Tilda Swinton: Ongoing, Onassis Foundation, Athens (until 28 Jun)
Emily Kam Kngwarray: The Turning Season, Pace Gallery, New York (until 14 Aug)
Body. Ideal, Gaze, Freedom, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg (until 17 Jan)
Betty Parsons / Carla Accardi, Peter Marino Art Foundation, Southampton, NY (until 3 Oct)
Whitney Biennial 2026, Whitney Museum, New York (until 23 Aug)
The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision, Center Pompidou Hanwha, Seoul
Carol Rama: I See You You See Me, Hauser & Wirth, New York (until 31 Jul)
Aleksandra Waliszewska: Irruption of Antiquity, Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, Athens (until 27 Sep)
Christina Kubisch: The Emergence of Sound, Ludwig Forum, Aachen (until 20 Sep)
MOTHER: Stories from the NGV Collection, NGV, Melbourne (until 12 Jul)
Camille Henrot: Paper Planes, Copenhagen Contemporary (until 31 Dec)
Joan Snyder: Earthsongs, Thaddeus Ropac, Paris (until 25 Jul)
Vocal Break by Lauren Elkin
Graphic rebellion: The women who made the West Coast Modern, via A Rabbit’s Foot
Land by Maggie O’Farrell
Leïla Slimani on Goya and the relationship between literature and painting, via The Guardian
Recently I’ve loved delving into MUBI’s eight-film collection Frederick Wiseman: American Lives, dedicated to the unique American documentarian (1930–2026) who travelled the country with modest equipment – handheld cameras and portable mics – to record the institutions and people that make up modern life.
From Model (1980), a behind-the-scenes look at the modelling industry, to In Jackson Heights (2015), a generous ode to a New York City neighbourhood threatened by gentrification; the eight films in this MUBI collection make up a moving portrait of the full spectrum of human behaviour and emotion.
I was drawn to Wiseman’s films for the way his open, non-judgemental approach makes space for the small gestures, expressions and idiosyncrasies that shape people’s everyday lives, and which together reveal something much larger about the world we live in.
In many ways Wiseman reminds me of one of my favourite artists, the great American photographer Diane Arbus (1923–1971). Led by an empathetic curiosity, both Wiseman and Arbus chronicled American lives through a lens of strangeness and familiarity, wonder and honesty – and in doing so, insisted on the beauty that underlies it all.
Frederick Wiseman: American Lives is now streaming on MUBI in Australia, India, Turkey, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Ireland, UK, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. You can get 30 days free at mubi.com/katyhessel.
The Great Exhibition Road Festival, South Kensington, 6–7 Jun
William Kentridge in conversation, Royal Academy, 17 Jun, 6:30pm
Sarah Churchwell on Marilyn Monroe, National Portrait Gallery, 19 Jun, 7pm
An evening with Olivia Laing and Charlie Porter celebrating 10 years of The Lonely City, Union Chapel, 23 Jun 7pm
Counterpoints Lecture with Elif Shafak, Southbank Centre, 27 Jun, 2pm
Margo Hoff (1910–2008)
Christina Forrer (b.1978)
Carrie Stettheimer (1869–1944)
Monika Correa (b.1938)
Minnette de Silva (1918–1998)
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